The number of cards in a
Tarot deck = 78
(22 Major Arcana cards +
56 Minor Arcana cards = 78)
Tarot history goes back to the early 1400 in Northern Italy.
The 52-deck playing cards were first
mentioned in Spain in 1371.
Special cards were added that could beat any card of the four ordinary suits called
trionfi (triumphs), from which our word trumps is derived.
When the game spread from Italy, the word Tarocco became Tarot
in French and Tarok in German. By the late 1400, the 78 card pack with 21 trumps,
14 cards per suit and a Fool had become fairly standard. Until the 18th century, the four suits were:
"spade" (swords), "bastoni" (batons), "coppe" (cups), "denari" (coins). In the late 18th century,
the coins and batons were transformed into pentacles and wands, and the term "major arcana" was
introduced for the 22 trumps.

An elevator floor plaque
from the 78th floor of
the World Trade Center
recovered from the wreckage
(New York State Museum)NY Times, 11-25-2003

22)

Hymn 78 in Book 7 of the
Rig Veda is an invocation to Dawn:
We have beheld her earliest lights approaching:
her many glories part, on high, asunder...
Rich Daughter of the Sky, we all behold her,
yea, all men look on Dawn as she is breaking...
Inspired with loving thoughts this day to greet thee,
we and our wealthy nobles have awakened.
Show yourselves fruitful, Dawns, as ye are rising.
Preserve us evermore, ye Gods, with blessings.

23)

78th word of the King James Bible's Old Testament Genesis = called
1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2: And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3: And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4: And God saw the light, that it was good:
and God divided the light from the darkness.
5: And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.
 Genesis I.1-4 (1611)

24)

Maschil of Asaph addresses to the Israelites in 78thPsalm:
2: I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:
3: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
15: He clave the rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them drink as out of the great depths
16: He brought streams also out of the rock,
and caused waters to run down like rivers
 Psalms 78.2-3, 78.15-16 (1611)

25)

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching,Verse 78:
Nothing in the world is weaker than water
but against the hard and the strong
nothing excels it
for nothing can change it
the soft overcomes the hard
the weak overcomes the strong
this is something everyone knows
but no one is able to practice
thus the sage declares
who accepts a country's disgrace
we call the lord of soil and grain
who accepts a country's misfortune
we call the king of all under Heaven
upright words sound upside down.
(translated by Red Pine, Tao Te Ching,
Mercury House, San Francisco, 1996, p. 156)

26)

78th Verse of Buddha's Dhammapada: On the Wise
Do not keep company with evildoing friends nor with people who are base;
associate with the good, associate with the best of men.
Buddha, Dhammapada Verse 78 (240 B.C.)
(translated by Harischandra Kaviratna, Dhammapada: Wisdom of the Buddha, 1970)

27)

78th Book of Enoch describes the Sun & Moon, Waxing & Waning of the Moon:
And on the first day she is called the new moon,
for on that day the light rises upon her. She becomes
full moon exactly on the day when the sun sets in the west,
and from the east she rises at night, and the moon shines
the whole night through till the sun rises over against
her and the moon is seen over against the sun.

Book of Enoch LXXVIII.12-13 (circa 105 B.C.-64 B.C.)

28)

78th Tetragram of the T'ai Hsüan Ching: Chiang / On the Verge
December 3 (pm) - December 7:

Correlates with Human's Mystery:
Yin; the phase Water; and the I Ching Hexagram #64,
Not yet complete; the sun enters the Dipper constellation,
9th degree. Momentous changes are about to occur in the
phenomenal world. Yin ch'i, which has nearly effected
the completion of the myriad things, will soon depart. Yang
is on the verge of returning to its initial position at the
beginning of the cycle. Such reversals are the key to renewal,
but given the potential danger inherent in times of great
transition, the noble man takes particular care to presevere
in the course of moderation.
Yang Hsiung (53 BC-18 AD),Canon of Supreme Mystery (
T'ai Hsüan Ching)
(translated by Michael Nylan, 1993)

29)

78th Trigraph of the Ling Ch'i Ching: Chieh Chin / AbstainingThe image of appropriately withdrawing
A cluster of yin contrary to their positions
Oracle:
Quarreling and fighting in their drunkenness,
both knives and staffs are drawn. Only when the host,
becoming fearful, humbles himself does it cease.
Verse:
Dwelling in prosperity, one should ponder and contemplate;
Effecting plans lies in discerning the moment.
When setting out the wine vessels, guard against uncouth guests;
By being humble and retiring, one can be free of anxiety.
Tung-fang Shuo,Ling Ch'i Ching (circa 222-419)
(trans. Ralph D. Sawyer & Mei-Chün Lee Sawyer, 1995)

30)

Verse 78 of Rubáiyát, of
Omar Khayyam (1048-1122):What! out of senseless Nothing to provoke
A conscious Something to resent the yoke
Of unpermitted Pleasure, under pain
Of Everlasting Penalties, if broke!
(translated by Edward Fitzgerald,
London, 1st edition 1859, 2nd edition 1868)

31)

Invoking the Muse in 78th Sonnet of William Shakespeare:So oft have I invoked thee for my Muse,
And found such fair assistance in my verse
As every alien pen hath got my use
And under thee their poesy disperse.
Thine eyes, that taught the dumb on high to sing
And heavy ignorance aloft to fly,
Have added feathers to the learned's wing
And given grace a double majesty.
Yet be most proud of that which I compile,
Whose influence is thine, and born of thee:
In others' works thou dost but mend the style,
And arts with thy sweet graces graced be;
But thou art all my art, and dost advance
As high as learning my rude ignorance.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616),
Sonnets LXXVIII,
Commentary

A poor torn hearta tattered heart
That sat it down to rest
Nor noticed that the Ebbing Day
Flowed silver to the West
Nor noticed Night did soft descend
Nor Constellation burn
Intent upon the vision
Of latitudes unknown.

The angels happening that way
This dusty heart espied
Tenderly took it up from toil
And carried it to God
There sandals for the Barefoot
There gathered from the gales
Do the blue havens by the hand
Lead the wandering Sails.

78th Verse in Tagore's
Gitanjali:When the creation was new and all the stars shone in their first splendour,
the gods held their assembly in the sky and sang
'Oh, the picture of perfection! the joy unalloyed!'
But one cried of a sudden 'It seems that somewhere
there is a break in the chain of light and one of the stars has been lost.'
The golden string of their harp snapped, their song stopped,
and they cried in dismay 'Yes, that lost star was the best,
she was the glory of all heavens!'
From that day the search is unceasing for her,
and the cry goes on from one to the other
that in her the world has lost its one joy!
Only in the deepest silence of night the stars smile
and whisper among themselves
'Vain is this seeking! unbroken perfection is over all!'Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)Gitanjali: Song Offerings (1912), Verse 78

34)

Opus 78 of Johannes Brahms' Violin Sonata #1 in G Major
(Vivace ma non troppo, Adagio, Allegro molto moderto)
was composed 1878-1879, in the idyllic surroundings of the resort town
of Pörtschach. It was published in November 1879. Brahms connected
this work to lyrical G-major sonatas by Mozart (K. 301) & Beethoven (Op. 96),
as well as to a quote from Goethe's Queen of Heaven:"Come, rise to higher spheres." Clara Schumann hoped that this
last movement would accompany her in her journey to the next world.